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UN schools among sites struck in Gaza
Source: Agencies |
January 7, 2009, Wednesday
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AN Israeli bombardment hit outside a UN school where hundreds of Palestinians had sought refuge yesterday, and Palestinian medics said at least 34 people died as international outrage grew over civilian deaths in Gaza.
It was the second fatal strike in the vicinity of a UN school in hours, and the deadliest incident since Israel sent ground forces into Gaza last weekend.
The ground operation is part of a larger offensive against the ruling Hamas militant group that has killed nearly 600 Palestinians, including more than 100 civilians, according to UN and Palestinian officials.
Ignoring international calls for a cease-fire, Israeli soldiers edged closer to Gaza's major population centers. A total of 58 Palestinians were killed yesterday in fighting ?? with just two confirmed as militants, health officials in Gaza said.
"There's nowhere safe in Gaza. Everyone here is terrorized and traumatized," John Ging, the top UN official in Gaza, said after the first strike on the compound of a UN school killed three people.
A Palestinian rocket, one of two dozen fired from Gaza yesterday, wounded an Israeli infant.
The UN said three civilians were killed in the first airstrike late Monday on the courtyard of its school, where hundreds of people from a Gaza City refugee camp had sought shelter from Israel's blistering 11-day offensive.
A second Israeli strike hit about 10 meters outside a UN school in the northern Gaza town of Jebaliya. Witnesses reported several explosions, and it was not immediately clear whether they were caused by Israeli airstrikes or tank shells.
Dr Bassam Abu Warda, director of Kamal Radwan Hospital, said 34 people were killed.
"I saw a lot of women and children wheeled in," said Fares Ghanem, another hospital official. "A lot of the wounded were missing limbs and a lot of the dead were in pieces."
Majed Hamdan, an AP photographer, said he rushed to the scene shortly after the attacks. He said many children were among the dead.
"I saw women and men slapping their faces in grief, screaming, some of them collapsed to the floor. They knew their children were dead," he said. "In the morgue, most of the killed appeared to be children. In the hospital, there wasn't enough space for the wounded."
He said there were marks of five separate explosions, all in the same area outside the school.
UN officials say they provided their location coordinates to Israel's army to ensure that their buildings in Gaza are not targeted. The army declined to comment. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev also refused to react, saying he was waiting for the military to comment.
It was the second fatal strike in the vicinity of a UN school in hours, and the deadliest incident since Israel sent ground forces into Gaza last weekend.
The ground operation is part of a larger offensive against the ruling Hamas militant group that has killed nearly 600 Palestinians, including more than 100 civilians, according to UN and Palestinian officials.
Ignoring international calls for a cease-fire, Israeli soldiers edged closer to Gaza's major population centers. A total of 58 Palestinians were killed yesterday in fighting ?? with just two confirmed as militants, health officials in Gaza said.
"There's nowhere safe in Gaza. Everyone here is terrorized and traumatized," John Ging, the top UN official in Gaza, said after the first strike on the compound of a UN school killed three people.
A Palestinian rocket, one of two dozen fired from Gaza yesterday, wounded an Israeli infant.
The UN said three civilians were killed in the first airstrike late Monday on the courtyard of its school, where hundreds of people from a Gaza City refugee camp had sought shelter from Israel's blistering 11-day offensive.
A second Israeli strike hit about 10 meters outside a UN school in the northern Gaza town of Jebaliya. Witnesses reported several explosions, and it was not immediately clear whether they were caused by Israeli airstrikes or tank shells.
Dr Bassam Abu Warda, director of Kamal Radwan Hospital, said 34 people were killed.
"I saw a lot of women and children wheeled in," said Fares Ghanem, another hospital official. "A lot of the wounded were missing limbs and a lot of the dead were in pieces."
Majed Hamdan, an AP photographer, said he rushed to the scene shortly after the attacks. He said many children were among the dead.
"I saw women and men slapping their faces in grief, screaming, some of them collapsed to the floor. They knew their children were dead," he said. "In the morgue, most of the killed appeared to be children. In the hospital, there wasn't enough space for the wounded."
He said there were marks of five separate explosions, all in the same area outside the school.
UN officials say they provided their location coordinates to Israel's army to ensure that their buildings in Gaza are not targeted. The army declined to comment. Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev also refused to react, saying he was waiting for the military to comment.
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